WIN: Gaining trust and forming unified goals with major animal science and research industry stakeholders in order to demonstrate to the NZ Government a unified desire to replace the use of animals in science wherever possible.

HOW THE WIN WAS WON

There are no wins without the work. This work took several years but together, we did it!

The issue: Any government will be reluctant to make law and policy changes if it faces major resistance from powerful stakeholders. Put bluntly, we know that ‘business’ does not always mix with ‘public good’, and until you can conquer that barrier, and show the government a sense of consensus on both sides of the spectrum, then change for animals will take even longer.

The solution: We invited more than 100 organisations from the animal science and research industry to provide feedback on our Striking at the Source petition, which asks the NZ Government to: 

1. Allocate funding towards the use and development of animal-free methods.
2. Commit to phasing out the requirements for animal testing in NZ law.
3. Commit to phasing out the use of animals for science as technology permits.

We canvassed critical organisations, such as:

• ANZCCART, Universities NZ (representing all 8 universities in NZ)
• AgResearch (their animal ethics committee parents approx. 34% of all institutes using animals for research, testing and teaching in NZ)
• Cawthron Institute (New Zealand’s largest independent science organisation),

And many more, provided feedback, where possible

Tactics included:

• Building trusted relationships with each organisation as far as we could to align on goals, where feasible.
• Delivering unified NZAVS and Industry feedback to the Primary Production Committee to show the desire, from both ends of the spectrum, to make progress towards replacing the use of animals in science wherever possible. Thus, making it easier for the government to push critical funding and policy changes over the line.
• The Primary Production Select Committee Report, in response to our petition and hearing, recommended that the NZ Government “take note” and “comprehensively investigate possibilities for progress and fruitful development”.
• NZAVS is now pursuing those positive recommendations with the new government and the 54^th Parliament.

WE WILL NOT STOP THERE

The New South Wales government of Australia, in early 2023, launched a $7 million AUD (7.6m NZD) fund targeting animals used in science! $4.5 million will be directed towards replacing and reducing the use of animals in science, while the remaining $2.5 million will go towards existing animals needing to be rehomed. Funding like this would be welcomed by NZAVS and the science community in Aotearoa.

Together with you, we will continue to work with the animal science and research community until the NZ Government plays catch up with other countries and delivers on funding.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank the many NZ institutes that took the time to provide feedback on our petition requests. Providing such valuable input wasn’t a requirement – these institutes did so because they wanted to. A promising sign for the future!

We would also like to thank our strong-thinking supporter base for trusting us to forge relationships with the animal research and science industry to ultimately make faster, stronger, and longer-lasting change for animals used for science.